1 Jun 2023

Ribadeo to Mondoñedo

Stage: 26

Walked: 40,3 km

Planned: 36,9 km

Steps: 48,605

I headed out of the hotel at 7:30. The initial plan called for a 25 km stage into Lourenzá. The walk was very smooth, rural with a cloudy day until noon.  I had a lovely breakfast in the middle of nowhere, on my own, and later a second snack in a lovely Cafe called Tentempé/Tentempié. Later, the sky cleared out and the sun started shining full blast. I arrived in Lourenzá around 14:00 and I didn’t feel like staying in the town. Ana María found a lovely albergue in Mondoñedo and I called to reserve a bed and headed there. This portion of the stage was very tricky with a full 250m ascend and descend back to back which translated in a huge blister on my right heel. I reached the albergue around 16:00 and took care of the blister and headed out for snacks. I had to wait until 20:30 to get a proper meal as I missed the “comida” time. The albergue is one of the greatest I have stated in so far in the Camino in terms.  A great start-up and a lovely display on how to reinvent a concept in a house that has over 1500 years. The place was impecable, in principle an albergue, with an unrivaled twist of comfort. The price was very affordable and very close to the average albergue price for this portion of the Camino.  Sadly, the albergue is struggling to sell the accommodations to pilgrims for reasons well identified. At night, I had a lovely salad and patatas bravas and went back to the albergue to rest and recover.